The Lines of Loyalty
by unicorn-skydancer08
Summary: Terence is being held prisoner by a former advocate of the White Witch, and Tumnus must find his brother and save him. A longer, more detailed look into the story "Friends and Foes".
1. Chapter 1

**THE LINES OF LOYALTY  
**

_Anybody here remember my story "Friends and Foes"? If not, I'm not surprised; it's been over two years since I wrote that story. (You'll find it wa-a-a-ay at the bottom of my story list. I need to go back to it and revise it.) Somehow, I got this powerful urge to delve into that story again. This time, I decided to flesh it out more, go into deeper detail, include stuff that was not included in the original. (Deleted scenes, if you will.) _

_It feels weird to take this up once more after leaving it alone for so long, yet strangely gratifying at the same time. _

_Enjoy yourselves, and as always, reviews are welcome and expected!  
_

* * *

**Characters (with exceptions) © C.S. Lewis and Disney/Walden Media**

**Story © unicorn-skydancer08**

_**All rights reserved.**_

* * *

**CHAPTER 1  
**

"Again!"

Another sharp crack resounded through the dungeon as the giant minotaur lashed its whip, followed by another piercing cry from its victim as the blow landed.

"Once more, Flavius," commanded the man-wolf, who was the overseer of this cruel torture.

A young man with white hair and a scraggly white goatee, dressed in splendid clothes that were reduced to filthy, tattered rags, hung half-dead from the chains that upheld him. A solid layer of blood covered the back of his head and coated one side of his gaunt yet extraordinarily handsome face; on his back, where his garments were torn, a shocking number of bloody welts marred his once smooth, flawless flesh. As if the marks on his back from the lash and his head wound were not enough, his whole body suffered from terrible wounds, from bruises to much more grave injuries. Considering all he had been through within the last three days alone, it was a miracle he was still alive.

As he was ordered, the minotaur Flavius drew back his bulky arm one more time, and flung the cable at the youth's brutally battered back with all his might. There was yet another dreadful crack, and the poor boy uttered yet another wail as the unmerciful cable cut into him. When the man-wolf finally signaled for Flavius to cease, he strode up to the boy himself, who was shaking all over like a leaf, his face drenched with sweat and tears.

"Now, Terence," said the man-wolf, in his low, sinister growl of a voice, "I shall ask it yet again. _Where is Tumnus?_"

Very slowly, the youth lifted his face to his opponent's, which ranged somewhere between the face of a man and the face of a wolf. Blood-red eyes with ominous black slits for pupils glared at him, gleaming in the dimness like a pair of lit coals.

Despite that evil face looming over his, despite the torture he'd undergone, Terence rasped, "I'll never tell, Ardat."

Ardat growled at him, revealing a mouthful of deadly yellow fangs. "Even now, you continue to defy me? I tire of your arrogance, boy!"

Terence managed to raise his head somewhat higher, and his voice was slightly stronger as he replied, "You and your mangy minotaur minions can do whatever you like with me. You can keep me in this hellish place forever, you can break and destroy my body—you can even kill me if you so choose. But I'll never betray Tumnus. _Never!_"

The coarse fur along the back of Ardat's neck prickled unpleasantly, but he forced himself to remain in control. When he spoke again, his tone was considerably calmer, though it still held an icy edge to it. "So, you think you can outwit me? Well, we shall see which of us ends up outwitting the other. For I am patient, and even you cannot endure this forever."

To Flavius, the man-wolf said brusquely, "Take him away. You and Avicus keep watch over him, until I summon you again. No food or water."

Flavius merely grunted in reply, but he promptly released Terence from his chains, only to pin the boy's arms behind his back and bind him with rough cords.

Terence hadn't the strength to resist, and he glanced back at Ardat but once as he was hauled away.

How Ardat got someone like Flavius to correspond with him, Terence hadn't the faintest idea, as Flavius was at least twice Ardat's size, and no doubt twice as strong. Yet, somehow, Ardat maintained an iron hold on his henchmen, and they heeded his orders without hesitation or fail. One thing, however, was certain: when Ardat knew what he wanted, he stopped at nothing to obtain it. And at that time, it was Tumnus he wanted, more than anything else.

As terrible as it was for Terence, Terence could only imagine how much more it would be so for Tumnus, if Ardat ever got his paws on him.

Terence could never put his best mate through it, just to save his own life.

If one of them had to go, if one of them had to suffer Ardat's cruelty, he would rather it be himself than his beloved faun.


	2. Chapter 2

**THE LINES OF LOYALTY  
**

_I'm back, and so are my Narnia stories! Boy, is it good to be back! It feels especially good to update this thing at last; I can't believe it's been nearly a year already. Ah well, the important thing is that it is updated. _

_As my motto goes, as slow as I can be, I've never given up on a story yet. _

_Also I could use a review or two, if you don't mind. I don't mean to sound pushy, but it has been a while since I last received one, and I'm getting pretty review-hungry.  
_

* * *

**Characters (with exceptions) © C.S. Lewis and Disney/Walden Media**

**Story © unicorn-skydancer08**

_**All rights reserved.**_

* * *

**CHAPTER 2  
**

Meantime, at Castle Cair Paravel, General Oreius was just reporting to High King Peter. "Has there been any sign of him?" Peter asked the centaur the moment he saw him.

"None, Your Majesty," Oreius regretted to say. "My men have searched high and low, far and wide. The best of our griffins have thoroughly scoured the heavens, while the best of our dogs and wolves have worked their noses to the limit. Terence is nowhere to be found." Bowing his head, he continued sorrowfully, "Forgive me, my lord. We've done all that we could in our power…but I fear it is a lost cause."

"Well, don't give up now," said Peter doggedly. "Keep searching. Double—no, triple your efforts. Leave no part of this land or the lands beyond unexplored. Nothing, absolutely _nothing _must be overlooked."

Oreius gave out a little weary sigh, but all he said was, "Yes, Sire."

Then he turned and went his way without another word.

When the general had gone, Peter sank back onto his throne and put his face into his hands, rubbing his lids jadedly. He sighed. This was getting to be more complicated than he'd expected.

Where _was_ Terence? He had to be around here somewhere; he couldn't have vanished into thin air.

Presently, Peter sensed someone by his side, and he raised his head and opened his eyes to find it was his sister, Queen Susan. His brother, King Edmund, was right behind her. Neither of them said anything, at least not right away, but their faces revealed their concern. At length, Susan asked in a soft whisper, "Can't we do something, Peter?"

Peter shook his head in dismay. "I don't think there's anything any of us can do, Susan. Even Oreius is stumped."

"Poor Terence," said Edmund empathetically. "I'm beginning to fear the worst."

"Me too," said Susan. "Something must be wrong…so dreadfully wrong. If something can happen to Terence, it can happen to anybody."

A long, weighty silence followed this little speech.

When Peter spoke again, he asked, "How is Tumnus?"

"In about as bad of a shape as he can possibly get," Edmund replied. "He pines away in his room and won't speak to anyone, not even me, not even Lucy."

Of course, Peter and Susan were both well aware, as were all the other residents of the Cair, that Tumnus would take Terence's loss the hardest. Terence was Tumnus's best friend, essentially his brother.

As troubled and fearful for Terence's safety as they were themselves, Tumnus was undoubtedly a hundred times worse.

"I hope Tumnus will be all right," Susan said.

"Given how close he and Terence are," Peter said grimly, "I think it's going to be a long time before he'll even start to be all right…if ever."

* * *

While Peter, Susan, and Edmund were engaged in this conversation, Tumnus sat alone in his private chambers. The faun hunkered low on the edge of his bed, his hooves planted firmly on the floor. In his trembling hands, he held a framed oil painting, one that he had done himself the year before. It was the portrait of Terence as a man; he was positioned in a way that was at once casual and elegant. Seeing the young man's face, with his warm countenance and intelligent eye, brought a painful lump to Tumnus's throat, and the details of the painting blurred as tears pooled up. The faun ended up setting the picture aside so that his tears wouldn't drip onto it.

Next to him on the bed, there lay a ragged scrap of fine blue cloth.

This wasn't just any cloth; it was part of Terence's own raiment. It was all they'd found of the boy after he mysteriously disappeared. Worse, a number of tiny dark dots stained the cloth, which Tumnus recognized as blood. The mere sight of the cloth was enough to sicken him. This was undeniable proof that Terence hadn't simply disappeared; something had happened to him, something extremely serious.

There was no telling what awful misfortune could have befallen the poor boy, or who could have done this in the first place. Only someone very clever and very cruel would do such a thing.

But what made Tumnus's heart truly sick was the memory of his personal treatment of Terence, the last time he saw him. The two of them got into a bit of a fight, and while Terence was technically the one who'd started it, Tumnus knew he was no better off himself. Now that Terence was gone, he would never know how sorry Tumnus was for the way he'd acted, for the terrible things he'd said and done.

What would Tumnus do now? How would he get along without his best mate? He couldn't see how he could, especially with the weight of guilt and shame that pressed down on him.

What he wouldn't give to have Terence here with him, right here, right now. He would gladly give up everything he owned in the world if only he could get his brother back. He wondered where Terence could be, if—assuming the boy was still alive—he was thinking about him, if he missed Tumnus as much as Tumnus missed him. What if Tumnus never saw him again? What if he could never hug Terence again, hear his voice again?

Tumnus would never forgive himself if that were the case, and he had a sinking feeling it may well be.

"Oh, Terence," he found himself whispering aloud to the void, "wherever you are, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

This marked the official release of the faun's tears.

Leaning forward, his elbows atop his furry haunches, Tumnus covered his face with his hands and wept freely.


	3. Chapter 3

**THE LINES OF LOYALTY  
**

_Here you are, mates, the third chapter! This is where we get a little more information on Ardat's character. I like to think of him as the male version of Zira from "The Lion King 2". Their attitudes and overall psyches are pretty much alike.  
_

* * *

**Characters (with exceptions) © C.S. Lewis and Disney/Walden Media**

**Story © unicorn-skydancer08**

_**All rights reserved.**_

* * *

**CHAPTER 3  
**

"That boy is more resilient than we had guessed when we first caught him, Ardat," said Avicus.

"We're just wasting our time and energy," Flavius muttered. "I say we simply kill the little dunghill rat and be done with it."

"Don't be so hasty, you oversized bull," Ardat snapped at him. "As of now, that boy is our only resource for locating Tumnus. It would save us much time and trouble if he simply told us of the faun's whereabouts."

"He's already more trouble for us than he's worth," grunted Flavius. "We've employed just about every form of torture there is in the book; we've beaten him to within an inch of his life, and still he holds his tongue."

Inwardly, Ardat begrudgingly acknowledged that his minotaurs were correct in that aspect. He knew plenty of characters who would have lost their nerve and talked under such torture.

"Well," the man-wolf growled at length, "we will have to be patient, for yet a while longer. That boy can't hold out forever. Sooner or later, something will have to give."

"Why are you so bound and determined to capture this Tumnus, anyhow?" Avicus demanded.

Flavius added snidely, "Yes, Ardat, do tell. What is it about the faun that's so vital that you're willing to torture another to death, just to get information about him that you could obtain some other way?"

Ardat's blood-red eyes flashed. "_Because he was the one responsible for Jadis's downfall!_" he roared, so fearsomely that both minotaurs backed a few steps from him. When the eerie echoes throughout the stone corridor subsided and Ardat spoke once more, his voice was much quieter, though with an ominous chill enough to penetrate the bone. "That sniveling, spineless worm was always one to save his own skin. When Jadis first became queen, he naturally didn't hesitate to team up with her, in order that _his _life would be spared. Then he did a complete turnaround and joined those four human brats and that bedeviled Aslan, in hopes of obtaining mercy." He spat the last word out like it tasted foul. "Were it not for that traitorous coward, Jadis would still be queen—and I, Ardat, her humble, devoted servant."

Now the man-wolf's tone took on a different note. A strange gleam shone in his eyes; his ugly face revealed an expression of almost genuine tenderness.

Turning away from his minions for just a moment, he said softly to the empty air, "Ah, my beloved, you never knew the true depth of my feelings for you. I never spoke of it, because I knew that was not where your pride rested. I knew you were far too superior to one such as I…but you were always beautiful in my eyes. How I admired your beauty, your strength, your skill, your great acumen."

Flavius looked quizzically at his companion. "Who is he talking to?"

"Jadis, who else?" Avicus retorted.

"Where?" Flavius turned his head in every direction, as if Jadis herself floated about somewhere in that room.

"She's _dead_, genius," Avicus reminded him sardonically.

Hearing this, Ardat whirled back to them, his face now contorted in a look of terrifying fury. "_Yes,_ she is dead!" he barked, making them jump again. "There is no question that she is gone, and that there is nothing we can do to bring her back. But we can see to it that her death is not in vain, that those behind her demise—such as Tumnus—will pay in kind."

Shaking his shaggy head, Flavius grumbled, "I still say this is a big waste of time."

"However long it takes," Ardat replied, flexing his claws, from which protruded terrible nails no less than a foot long, "it will all be worth it in the end, from the moment I have Tumnus in my grasp."


End file.
